2026-2027 Educator Bios

Ms. Rachel Mersky Woda – Middle School

Rachel Mersky Woda comes from a long line of Jewish educators and communal professionals. After finishing an undergraduate degree in Judaic Studies and a Masters in Education and Human Development, both from The George Washington University, Rachel has spent the last 30 years working with a wide variety of non-profit organizations at the local, regional and national level including the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life, the Union for Reform Judaism, the Bureau of Jewish Education of Rhode Island, the Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island and Camp JORI. She has spent time working with all aspects of these organizations including fundraising, leadership development, and strategic planning while spending significant time in areas of experiential Jewish education. Rachel was in the inaugural cohort of Fellows in the Institute for Informal Jewish Education at Brandeis University, is a fellow in the Senior Educators Learning Fellowship at Pardes Institute for Jewish Studies and is a certified Reform Jewish Educator (RJE) from the Union for Reform Judaism. In addition to working at Temple Beth-El as the Director of Youth & Family Engagement, Rachel is an associate with Mersky, Jaffe & Associates, a consulting firm that helps non-profit organizations with financial and human resource development. She currently serves on the board of our Community Beit Midrash, has served on the Board of Trustees of the Jewish Community Day School of Rhode Island and on the Development Committee at Jewish Collaborative Services. Rachel lives on the East Side of Providence with her husband, Craig and their sons, Jordan and Elias.

Ms. Janice Kaidan – Middle School

Janice has been teaching in the Greater Boston and Providence Jewish communities for three decades. A native Hebrew speaker and formerly an instructor in the statewide Harry Elkin Midrasha program, she currently teaches Modern Hebrew to adults at Temple Emanu-El and both Hebrew and Torah to girls at Providence Hebrew Day School. She brings with her a sensitivity to different levels of observance and relationships to Torah, as well as a deep love of language and mussar. She can also be seen playing drums around town and the country with her family’s rock band, The Dorons.

Rabbi Berel Laufer – Middle School

Rabbi Berel Laufer follows in his family’s tradition of running many welcoming Chabad houses across Rhode Island. The head of Chabad House Providence, he and his wife Batya are bringing new life and a myriad of programs to the Jewish community. Prior to returning to Providence, Berel taught Math and English to elementary school students at Satmar -Yeshivas Torah veYirah in Williamsburg and middle school students at the Skver Mosdod Square schoool in Borough Park. He has also made hasidus accessible to adults of all denominations for three years as part of the Providence 3rd Meal Shabbat learning program. Berel is also fluent in Hebrew, Yiddish, and English, and makes a mean cholent.

Ms. Daniella Stark – Middle School

Daniella Stark is a community organizer and musician who helps lead services, guide musical programming, and train both adults and teens in leyning and davening at Temple Emanu-El, where she serves on the board. From 2024-2026 she started and ran the 3rd Meal Shabbat learning program, which is now integrating with Community Beit Midrash’s intergenerational learning. Formerly a mechanical engineer, she has experience teaching middle school students at design camps in Cambridge, MA. An avid student of languages, she currently immerses herself in Hebrew and Italian, and has also studied Spanish, French, and Mandarin. When not teaching or playing music she loves laughing with her daughter, roller skating, and cooking for friends.

Ms. Lisa Greenberg – Middle and High School

Lisa is a veteran of Community Beit Midrash and her daughter, Yael Tesar, is a 2026 graduate of the program. A teacher at the Temple Emanu-El Religious School for the past 7 years, she is originally from New Haven, CT and lived in Israel and New York City for many years before moving to Providence with her husband, Brian, and children, Aviv and Yael. She is a certified QED All Kinds of Minds mentor with experience teaching colleagues about learning variations/neurodiversity and how to enhance their instructional decision-making and build their professional expertise. She also keeps her own Torah fresh, with a program at Pardes in 2026 and through the Center for Contemporary Mussar where she received Madricha certification. Lisa’s favorite Jewish custom is chevruta learning, and she is excited to help guide teens in finding their love of Torah in chevruta with their peers. In her free time, you might find her traveling, reading, visiting museums, studying mussar, and walking her dog.

Past Educator Bios

R’Emily Goldberg Winer – Middle School

R’ Emily Goldberg Winer is the Director of Spiritual Engagement at Congregation Beth Sholom and a hospital chaplain in Providence, RI. Her previous positions include: Manager of Boston for the Shalom Hartman Institute, rabbinic intern at the Stanton Street Shul, Congregation Beth Sholom/Talmud Torah, Columbia/Barnard Hillel, chaplain at Bedford Hills Correctional Facility, community educator at Brandeis, and coordinator at the Hebrew Home of Riverdale. She completed a unit of Clinical Pastoral Education at New York Presbyterian Hospital, the Jewish Innovation Fellowship at the 92nd Street Y, the Join for Justice Fellowship, and the rabbinic student fellowship at SHI-NA. A Wexner Graduate and Atra Fellow, Emily has engaged in programs rooted in religious diversity, first among fellow Jews at the Bronfman Youth Fellowship and Drisha, and later across faiths at the Institute for Jewish-Christian Understanding, Tanenbaum, and Auburn. Emily lives in Providence, Rhode Island with her husband Jonah, their daughter Selah, and their extroverted Golden Retriever named Barley.

Dr. Yitz Schleifer – Middle School

Yitz Schleifer is an Adult and Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist, working in private practice in Providence. He has been teaching both middle and high school programs in the Providence Beit Midrash every year since its inception and previously has experience in Jewish education through teaching in Hebrew schools and working within the Bnei Akiva movement. He is passionate about making Jewish learning a dynamic experience that both empowers kids with the skills and excites them to pursue a lifetime of Jewish inquiry. He prefers a good question to a great answer.

Rabbi Jonah Winer – Middle School

Rabbi Jonah (he/him) was born and raised in Toronto and after earning a BA in Religious Studies (focusing on Catholic Studies and Buddhist Studies) at McGill University, Jonah was ordained by Yeshivat Chovevei Torah in New York.  After ordination, he spent three years working at Hillels, most recently as Senior Jewish Educator and Orthodox Rabbi at Brown RISD Hillel. He currently serves as Director of Learning at T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights.

Rabbi Alex Friedman – High School

Rabbi Friedman grew up in Austin, Texas and earned a BA in Political Science and Jewish Studies from Brandeis University. He was ordained in 2025 by the Jewish Theological Seminary, where he developed a deep love for Torah and Jewish music as a high holiday hazzan and year-round student Rabbi at congregations across the US and Israel. Rabbi Friedman enjoys cooking, podcasts, niggunim, queer Torah, and collecting owl tchotchkes. He is married to Yacov Steinberg, a social work student at the University of Haifa.

Rabbi Michael Fel – High School

Originally from Miami, Florida, Rabbi Fel earned a bachelor’s degree in Business from the University of Miami. He then pursued his ordination at the Jewish Theological Seminary, where he honed his skills as a Schusterman Rabbinic Fellow and earned a Master’s Degree in Midrash and Scriptural Interpretation from the Graduate School. Rabbi Fel dedicated the initial eight years of his rabbinate to Temple Emunah in Lexington, Massachusetts. Rabbi Fel loves connecting and partnering with people to create a vibrant and inclusive Jewish community.  Since arriving at Temple Emanu-El in 2019, Rabbi Fel partnered with staff and lay leaders to create a variety of new initiatives including:

• Establishing affinity groups like Boomers and Beyond, the Brotherhood, TEQ (LGBTQ+A), and ATEED (20s and 30s).
• Curating small group learning experiences centered around Jewish values.
• Forging a partnership with Sinai and Synapses to secure a national grant aimed at exploring the intriguing interplay between science and religion.
• Introducing “On the Rhode”: an enticing series of summer gatherings and social meetups all around Rhode Island

Rabbi Fel especially loves teaching his Wednesday morning Shulhan Arukh class, meeting with congregants one on one, and of course, creating meaningful and inspiring worship services.  Having walked the diverse paths of various Jewish denominations, Rabbi Fel comprehends that everyone forges their unique connection to Judaism. He hopes that Temple Emanu-El becomes a comfortable home for you. When not at work, Rabbi Fel enjoys cooking, woodworking, playing percussion instruments, exploring the outdoors, and speaking Spanish (his family is from Argentina). Rabbi Fel and his wife Shayna, a native Rhode Islander and former New England Region USY President, are raising their incredible children: Nadav, Eliana and Lior.

Adin Pepper Fox – High School

My name is Adin Pepper Fox, and I am a rising senior studying mathematics and computer science at Brown University. I am originally from Riverdale, NY, where I went to SAR academy and high school. I play piano (and am trying my best to learn guitar), I love reading sci-fi/fantasy novels, and stay active playing volleyball and rock climbing. I am excited to learn with everyone this year!

Rabbi Barry Dolinger – Shabbat Learning

Rabbi Barry Dolinger is the Rabbi and spiritual leader of Congregation Beth Sholom, founder of Lighthouse Kosher, and co-founder of Mitzvah Matzos.  He is a practicing attorney and serves as the Executive Director of the International Beit Din. He believes in the power of spiritual practice, and lives in Pawtucket with his wife Naomi and two daughters, Ada and Yahli. 

Rabbi Elan Babchuck – Shabbat Learning

Rabbi Elan Babchuck is committed to leaving behind a world that is more compassionate and connected than the one he found. In pursuit of that commitment he serves as the Executive Vice President at Clal, the National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership, and the Founding Executive Director of Glean Network, which partners with Columbia Business School. He was ordained in 2012, and earned his MBA that year, as well. A sought-after thought leader, he is the co-author of Picking Up the Pieces: Leadership After Empire (2024, Fortress Press), and Meaning Making – 8 Values That Drive America’s Newest Generations (2020, St. Mary’s Press). He has delivered keynotes at stages ranging from TEDx to the US Army’s General Officer Symposium, published in The Atlantic, The Guardian, Washington Post, and Religion News Service, and has a column for The Wisdom Daily. He is a Founding Partner of Starts With Us, a movement to counteract toxic polarization in America, and a founding Board Member of Springtide Research Institute, which focuses on spirituality, mental health and Gen Z. He lives in Providence, Rhode Island with his wife, Lizzie Pollock, and their three children: Micah, Nessa, and Ayla. In his spare time, he is an avid rock climber and constant gardener.